India recorded 3,46,786 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Saturday, the third consecutive day that the country set a global record for daily infections since the pandemic began last year. With this, the country’s tally of infections rose to 1,66,10,481.

As many as 2,624 deaths were registered, taking the toll to 1,89,544.

This is also the tenth consecutive day the country has recorded over 2 lakh coronavirus cases. As many as 1,38,67,997 patients have recovered from the disease so far, while there are 25,52,940 active cases.

Advertisement

India first hit the grim milestone of more than 3 lakh cases on Thursday, when it logged 3.14 lakh infections in a day.

India’s healthcare infrastructure is reeling under the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic as thousands of new coronavirus cases emerge every day. This has led to an acute shortage of oxygen, beds and timely medical care across several states.

Social media is awash with desperate calls for ambulances, ICU beds and medicines. Even hospitals are taking to Twitter to plead with the government to replenish their oxygen supplies and threatening to stop admissions of new patients.

Advertisement

Earlier this week, the Centre had announced that the Indian Railways will run special trains to supply oxygen to states and Union Territories, as several of them are facing a shortage. The “Oxygen Express”made its first stoppage in Maharashtra’s Nagpur on Friday evening.

The Centre has also decided to prohibit supply of oxygen for industrial purposes, in order to divert the stock for medical use. But as per an analysis by Scroll.in, India’s daily requirement of medical oxygen is currently more than double the amount that has been exempted from industrial use – 4,600 metric tonnes. And the country may run out of stocks in a few weeks even if all industrial oxygen is diverted to medical use.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 14.52 crore people and killed over 30.83 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 8.35 crore people have recovered from the infection.